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...Like Clockwork
...Like Clockwork is the sixth full length studio album from Queens of the Stone Age. It was released on June 3, 2013. Although physical singles weren't released, the band put out digital and promotional singles of My God is the Sun, I Sat By the Ocean and The Vampyre of Time and Memory. Promotion In an interview to NME magazine in September 2008, Josh Homme said the next album would sound "like a desert orgy in the dark". Later on, due to complications on Homme's personal and professional life (also producing Arctic Monkeys, releasing Them Crooked Vultures and Josh's surgery accident), rumours of Queens being on recording process would only be mentioned again in 2012. Recording process Queens of the Stone Age began to record ...Like Clockwork circa 2012. On March 30, Antiquiet released an interview with Joey Castillo in which he alleged that "Ultraviolet Robot would blow our minds". For some time after that, fans were so led to believe that the name of the next album would be Ultraviolet Robot, however that belief faded in time. A post on their Facebook page stated, "Recording." on August 20, 2012. On the same day, a picture of a guitar with the caption "told ya." was posted. On September 3, 2012 another picture was posted; this time it was a soundboard with the name of the members and their instruments being recorded. Meanwhile, on October 1, 2012, QOTSA announced their first gigs for ...Like Clockwork tour in Brazil and Chile, playing at Lollapalooza Festival which took place in March, 2013. On November 5, 2012 another gig was announced: This time at Download Festival in UK on June, 2013. The last picture about the recording process that was posted was on November 6, 2012. It is possible to see in that image a soundboard with the names of Dean Fertita, Mike Shoes, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor and Dave Grohl. On the same day, It was known from a interview of Josh Homme with Zane Lowe that Joey Castillo left the band after ten years. On December 26, 2012, QOTSA posted on their official Youtube channel a video called Secret of the Sound, showing how is the band's recording process and stuff. Watch it here. On January 25, 2013 QOTSA stated on Facebook: "Lanegan came by. He didn't say much, but he sang good. Troy Van Leeuwen said to Dean Fertita as overheard by Mikey Shoes". That way people were sure Lanegan was being present on the album. On Februrary 7, 2013, Elton John announced that he he was going to be featured on the album. Cryptic Messages On December 17, 2012, QOTSA's official website completely changed into a black background with an e-mail box on the center. Anyone who'd put their e-mail addresses would instantly receive a message saying "What did you think would happen?" (Some time after that, the message was replaced simply by "..."). Three days later, on December 20, 12, MOJO magazine published a misterious letter that was sent from the band and it's written: "Dear MOJO, a Stitch in time will save you 9, but... There's no way we could have prepared for the journey up the river that is this album. In our grand plan, we envisioned our lives and recordings, running like clockwerk. However, the reality has been manic and unpredictable. These songs aren't recollections of times we had. They are depictions of what we are going through in real time. It means even a bad event can turn into a unforgettable song. At least for us, HA. The record sound like running in a dream inside a codeine cabaret. I hope you understand what that means, cause we don't. Sounds like a load of pretentious sh..! What? Gotta go, the therapist says our time is up... Queens of the Stone Age." On January (3 or 31), 2013, Uncut magazine received a similar message: "Dear Uncut, ... If you find a way to embrace the chaos of life, that chaos can become your biggest inspiration. If the above sentence is true, we were really inspired during the making of this record and realized the best trick of all is no trick at all. So the songs are very raw and a honest reacion to our last year. We can't seem to write about the past or the future cause we're so chained to the moment. Almost dialed 999, couple months back. Now everything runs like clockwork. So, um... will you come pick us up at the bus station...? Hurry, we're freezing. Queens of the Stone Age." On January (2 or 9), 2013, another message was sent, this time to Kerrang! magazine and it says: "Dear Kerrang, ... Some things you can't fix so... On this record we came to a realization: The best trick of all, is no trick at all. The songs are a real time document of this manic ups and downs of the last year. It can't always run like clockwork. So rather than control the direction of the recordings, we decided to ride shotgun on our emotional bandwagon. We embraced our evil, held the horrible, licked the lunacy and blew the beautiful. As a result, we're on cloud 9. I can't write anymore cause my phone's dying, Queens of the Stone Age." A few days later, on January 12, 2013, QOTSA sent a message to NME magazine: "Dear NME, you're out of time, then... You find more. Then you're out of time again. Then it's 9 o'clock, then it's 6 o'clock. Time, time, time, where does it go? You're running in a dream in a codeine cabaret, then your alarm goes off and you wake up. That's kinda what our record sounds like. As you may have already guessed, it's going like clockwork. The songs are a no non-sense, straight to the point, documentary of our last manic year. Chaos is through to live through, but as it turns, sounds delicious. Have to stop writing cause my alarm is going off again. Just wanted to drop you a line and let you know we're ok! See you in 2013. Queens of the Stone Age." Announcements and Releases On March 22, 2013, QOTSA announced that the album would be called ...Like Clockwork and would be released in June. The website changed once again, with the new logo, a place for mailing list subscriptions and seven-second snippets of every song in the record; every time the page was refreshed, a new snipped was played. The hardest one to listen to was the snippet for Smooth Sailing's solo, since it would only play randomly and wasn't include on the "snippet cycle" of the website. If the page was refreshed nine times, the name "...Like Clockwork" would appear where was before the mailing list subscription box. The source-code for the website had the words Vampyre, Friends, 'Is' and Sailing in red on different parts of the website. On March 27, 2013 it was announced through QOTSA's Twitter that the UK artist Boneface would be the responsible for all the album's artwork. On March 30, 2013 Queens of the Stone Age played their first gig of the promotional tour cycle @ Lollapalooza Festival in São Paulo, Brazil. It was the first performance of Jon Theodore as the new drummer, as well the first live performance of My God is the Sun. On April 6, a website for My God is the Sun aired a radio streaming for the first listen of the studio version straight from Zane Lowe. Right after the streaming, the pre-order for the album was made available on Matador Records, which also released the album tracklisting and cover. When you entered your e-mail on the mailing list on the My God is the Sun website, a secret link ("PSST, . OVER HERE...") took you to a high-resolution version of the album cover. On April 17, a short video was posted on QOTSA's official facebook page that showed the vinyl cutting of the album, along with a quick snippet of the title track. Between the end of April and the beginning of May, many Billboards promoting the album showed up on Los Angeles and Brooklyn, New York. On May 3rd, another website is aired to promote the album, this time being likeclockwork.tv. The website showed an animation from a dark room with a telephone and the creature that would later on appear on the Kalopsia video. Under the animation box, there was a box in which you should put a telephone number (or, as prefered, a mobile number). After you entered your number, you would receive a call, which was a recording of a monologue that made references towards various album lyrics and, in the end, you'd get a message with the release date of the album. On May 5, the channel Adult Swim broadcasted a teaser of I Appear Missing music video. On May 6, though, the video was officially released through band's Youtube channel. QOTSA then started posting on Vine excerpts of If I Had a Tail and Keep Your Eyes Peeled music videos. On May 15, the video for Keep Your Eyes Peeled was officially released and on May 16, it was If I Had a Tail and May 18, My God is the Sun. On May 20, a short film with all videos was released on likeclockwork.tv. Rumours had that another film, directed by either Quentin Tarantino or Tim Burton, would be released promoting the album, but that never came to a conclusion. During the process of animated video releases, the album leaks on May 15. However, the release would only happen on June 4th. Tour Queens of the Stone Age performed more than 100 gigs around the world between 2013 and 2014. The very first gig took place at Lollapalooza Festival in São Paulo, Brazil on March 30, 2013. To promote the album in its entirety, though, the band played at Wiltern in Los Angeles on May 23, 2013. On June 5, there was a performance of The Vampyre of Time and Memory on David Letterman. On June 7, a gig at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple was played in which the band performed the entire album from start to finish (including the first performance of Fairweather Friends), plus major hits Millionaire, No One Knows, and A Song for the Dead on the encore. Between February and March in 2014, QOTSA and Nine Inch Nails had a co-headlining tour over Australia and New Zeland with Brody Dalle being the opening act. During the South American tour, Alain Johannes featured as an opening act, sharing the stage with QOTSA to perform Hangin' Tree on a concert on Porto Alegre, Brazil. The last concert happened on Halloween 2014 at The Forum in Los Angeles in a very special night, which was called The End of the Road and had various special guests, such as The Kills and JD Mcpherson. The Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears took the stage to sing Keep Your Eyes Peeled, as well as Nick Oliveri, who performed five songs with the band at the encore of the show: You Think I Ain't Worth a Dollar, But I Feel Like a Millionaire, Gonna Leave You, Auto Pilot, Quick and to the Pointless and Another Love Song. Music Videos Besides the animated videos for I Appear Missing, If I Had a Tail, Kalopsia, Keep Your Eyes Peeled and My God is the Sun, QOTSA released two official music videos. The first one was The Vampyre of Time and Memory, which was going to be released on Halloween in 2013, but due some unforseen technical issues, it was released on November 18, 2013. The second one was Smooth Sailing, released on April 8, 2014. Tracklisting # Keep Your Eyes Peeled (5:04) # I Sat By the Ocean (3:55) # The Vampyre of Time and Memory (3:34) # If I Had a Tail (4:55) # My God is the Sun (3:55) # Kalopsia (4:38) # Fairweather Friends (3:43) # Smooth Sailing (4:51) # I Appear Missing (6:01) # Like Clockwork (5:24) Special Guests/Credits * Joey Castillo - drums for Keep Your Eyes Peeled, I Sat By the Ocean and The Vampyre of Time and Memory * Jon Theodore - drums for Like Clockwork * Trent Reznor - synths for Kalopsia * Alex Turner - guitar and backing vocals for If I Had a Tail * Brody Dalle - backing vocals for If I Had a Tail and Fairweather Friends * Nick Oliveri - backing vocals for Fairweather Friends and If i Had a Tail * Mark Lanegan - backing vocals for Fairweather Friends * Elton John - backing vocals and piano for Fairweather Friends * Stan Freese - tuba for Like Clockwork * Jake Shears - backing vocals for Keep Your Eyes Peeled * Dave Grohl - drums for If I Had a Tail, My God is the Sun, Kalopsia, Fairweather Friends, Smooth Sailing and I Appear Missing * James Lavelle - production & main horns for Like Clockwork Pressings On July 8th a special release of the album was announced, in the format of a USB flash drive containing the album, original artwork, lyrics sheets, music videos and the Wiltern webcast recording. Two special versions of the LP were released: the first one featured an alternate cover and was called the "indie version" with a pressing quantity of 10000, and the second one was a Black Friday edition with an entirely black cover on a pressing quantity of 2400. There were no bonus tracks for any of the alternate editions. Matrix numbers * US promo - Z119817 LN OLE 1040-2 01 (no barcode) * Worldwide release - arvato 55473603/OLE1040-2 21 (barcode 744861104025) * Deluxe LP - OLE-1040-1-A/B/C/D - -26435- P. USA (barcode 1040-0) * Indie LP - OLE-1040-1-A/B/C/D (barcode 1040-1) * Regular LP - OLE-1040-1-A/B/C/D (barcode 1040-1) * Black Friday LP - OLE-1040-1-A/B/C/D MPO (no barcode) Artwork Album Vinyl